5 Surprising Benefits of Atkins

Anyone who’s followed Atkins will tell you about the benefits a low carb lifestyle brings, here are five of my favourites.

Willpower improves

Yes, it’s true. When you first consider Atkins you may think “how can I survive without bread or ice cream?”– or whatever high carb food you love. This all changes after a week or two on Atkins. As your blood sugar stabilises, the cravings vanish. In fact, if you do have a ‘blip’ and eat some high carb junk then you tend to realise how bloated and hungry it actually makes you feel. Plus you find new favourite foods that are nourishing your body, not zapping the energy from it.

Say goodbye to hunger

I don’t like to think of Atkins as a ‘diet’ as this conjures up images of endless plates of lettuce leaves, egg white omelettes or worse – nothing. Our low carb, high protein approach does leave you feeling satisfied. In fact, I’d say one of the top 3 questions I’m asked from Atkins followers is “I’ve been on Atkins for a week and I’m just not hungry, can I skip meals?”, to which the answer is, of course, always a resounding “no”.

Yet the fact remains that people feel too full to eat yet the pounds are dropping off and they’re feeling great. The reason for this? Every Atkins meal is rich in protein and dietary fat so is very satisfying, and because you’re not cutting down on calories you feel nicely full.

You feel more focused

You give a child a bag of sweets and you can visibly see them getting hyper right before your eyes. They find it very hard to focus on one task as they bounce off the walls on a sugar high.

Well, the opposite happens once your body switches to ketosis. You find that mental focus improves dramatically. This is a great benefit of Atkins that most people tend to within a week or 2 of lowering their carbs.

Stamina improves

On a low carb diet, after you’ve completed the adaptation period to switch you to ketosis (about 1-2 weeks) you should start to see a big lift in stamina levels. Cardio will feel easier, you’ll be able to lift more weights or find you have more energy to keep up with the kids.

This is because your body adjusts to burning fat for energy. As we have a much greater supply of fat than carbs, energy levels soar. If however, you find that you’re lacking in energy after 2 weeks on Atkins, try increasing salt intake. Atkins is naturally diuretic which may mean you need to replace the salt that’s lost when your water retention decreases. Don’t worry though, on Atkins you aren’t eating salty, processed fodds so your intake will naturally be lower.

Your mood improves – drastically

Without the constant highs and lows in blood sugar which zap energy and drain your mood, you’ll find that you feel much brighter. Food really does act as medicine when it comes to the mind and, whilst you may have previously ate sugary foods when you felt low, this actually works against what you’re trying to achieve and just leaves you feeling even unhappier. With Atkins you can control your blood sugar, put a spring in your step and avoid the sugary ‘highs’ and ‘lows’.

I’d love to hear about lesser known effects you’ve experienced on Atkins so feel free to share on our forum and join the conversation!